Chanel

A Whole Lotta Lip Swatches

November 28th, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

mac sweet assortment retro matte shiny pretty things — MAC Sweet Assortment: Retro Matte/Shiny Pretty Things holiday set

Heya, friend. How’s it going? I miss you. Hope you’re doing well. I’m chugging along…albeit slowly and not very productively. I’m in the midst of a midweek malaise, perhaps tied to the fact that it’s cloudy and drizzling. 🙁

It’s as if I’ve completely forgotten how to function normally or something!

I hope to regain the gift of gab again soon, but while I continue to quietly work through it, please enjoy this bevy o’ lip swatches…

MAC Sweet Assortment: Retro Matte/Shiny Pretty Things (a $69.50 limited edition holiday set)

This is a limited edition holiday set (one of many) available at MAC right now. I like it because all of the Retro Mattes are full size.

mac oh lady swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Oh Lady

mac dance with me swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in High Drama

mac burnt spice swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Burnt Spice

mac fashion legacy swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Fashion Legacy

mac so me swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in So Me

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Makeup of the Day // Shades of Blue Liner

November 20th, 2018 by Karen 17 Comments

chanel splendeur et audace palette k 2 — Feeling blue

I got the idea for this metallic blue eyeliner look from a look Kristin Stewart wore to Cannes earlier this year, and I’ve been wanting to wear it ever since. Obviously, I’m no Beau Nelson (I WISH), but I tried.

#kristenstewart in Cannes hair by @bridgetbragerhair styling @taraswennen makeup and Photo by me @beau_nelson #beaunelsonstudio

A post shared by Beau Nelson (@beau_nelson) on May 10, 2018 at 12:31pm PDT

There are so many things I love about this makeup look, but the main things are 1) how vibrant and metallic the liner is, and 2) how the liner morphs from bright metallic teal in the inner corner, to green in the middle (it isn’t obvious, but it’s there, methinks) and a dark blue in the corner, and that’s just along the upper lash line! The lower lash line has these small, subtle blocks of dark blue interspersed with teal… It’s colorful but not cray-cray.

I would totally wear this out to run errands. In fact, I did, out to get groceries, and I almost said “WASSSSUP” to the older woman who straight-up stared at me in the bread aisle as if I were a visitor from another planet.

Some thoughts on the key products

The most complicated thing in this look is the liner, but you can make it as easy or as complicated as you want. If you want to go a simpler route, you can use a couple of bright metallic blue pencils and a black liner on your water line, but I did a combination of eyeliner, cream shadow and powder shadow… Basically, I was in the mood to play. 🙂

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Electric: A metallic teal with silver glitter, available in the permanent line. It’s super bright and intense, but don’t get it anywhere close to your water line because your eyes will tear up if they’re sensitive.

Chanel Stylo Ombre Et Contour in Contour Graphique ($34): I used this dark matte navy as a base for the darker blue parts of the liner. It’s creamy, smudgy and intensely pigmented. It also takes about 5 minutes to fully dry down, so you’ll have lots of time to play with it.

Chanel Splendeur et Audace Quad ($61): I layered the black and blue shades on top of the dark matte navy liner. It’s shiny but less intensely metallic than similar shadows from Urban Decay and MAC… Eh, it’s alright.

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Put a Cat on It!

November 13th, 2018 by Karen 16 Comments

chanel holiday 2018 eyeshadows top final — CHANEL

‘Cause if you liked it then you should have put a cat on it.

If you liked it, then you shoulda put a cat in it.

Don’t be mad once you see the tabby’s paw on it.

‘Cause if you liked it, then you shoulda put a cat on it.

Oh, oh, oh (oh, oh, oh) oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh (oh, oh, oh) oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

When you and I finally discover the mythical doorway to the alternate universe ruled by cat ladies and cross the threshold together, you’ll see. There will be cats on everything. Every piece of makeup. EVERYTHING! Because cats on makeup is the key to life!

Well, maybe not the key to life…but it makes things better. ?

Paul and Joe does it, Chantecaille did it with big cats, and now Chanel went there with ? lions. They put leonine heads on their holiday eyeshadows and holiday highlighter.

I’ve been wanting to use these shadows, but I couldn’t bring myself to sully the kitty cat designs on them. I’ve been surgically removing tiny amounts of the shadows from the sides of the pan (right next to the lion’s bushy mane) with the diminutive NARS 45 smudge brush, so as to protect the meow-velous design.

chanel holiday 2018 — Wearing Chanel Cuivre Lamé and Noir Lamé eyeshadows on my lids

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Chanel Has a New CC Cream! $55 Chanel Super Active Complete Correction Broad Spectrum SPF 50

October 18th, 2018 by Karen 11 Comments

chanel cc cream — Chanel has a new CC Cream!

Why, oh, why am I still livin’ ~~on a prayer~~ like it’s 80 degrees outside?

Oh, yeah. Because it was 77 yesterday! Bay Area weather is so weird. We get these spells of the muggiest, summery-est weather right around Halloween, which are usually followed by a couple of very rainy, chilly weeks.

I’m not complaining. It’ll be sweater weather soon enough. Anyway, to go with this warm spell we’re having, I’ve been wearing appropriate warm weather bases, because — hi! — do you like it when your face melts off in the heat? I sure don’t. So, tinted moisturizers and BB and CC creams are in heavy rotation as of late, including this new CC by Chanel.

chanel cc cream ingredients — What’s inside…

From chanel.com:

PRODUCT
1 tinted moisturizer, 5 superpowers: evens, moisturizes, corrects, protects, illuminates. CC CREAM with Broad Spectrum SPF 50 combines skincare benefits with a longwearing, medium-to-full coverage makeup effect and a glowing finish — for the look of a more luminous, healthy complexion. After one month of use, the enhanced formula helps to correct signs of aging, improve skin’s texture and visibly reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Day after day, skin appears healthier with natural-looking radiance.

KEY INGREDIENTS
CC CREAM is infused with Murunga Plum Extract — unearthed from an Australian super fruit rich in vitamin C — to help protect skin from environmental aggressors while enhancing texture and glow. A new form of Hyaluronic Acid helps hydrate skin throughout the day for increased suppleness and comfort. With continuous moisture, skin looks plumped.

HOW TO APPLY
Wear alone after your skincare ritual or underneath powder makeup.

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Chanel La Base Ombre À Paupière Longwear Eyeshadow Primer Is the Ace of Base

September 12th, 2018 by Karen 7 Comments

chanel longwear eyeshadow primer — Before, and after eight hours, wearing Chanel Longwear Eyeshadow Primer as a base. (BTW, that’s the PYT Beauty “No BS” palette on my lids.)

Let me begin this by saying that I’ve been skipping eyeshadow primer for months.

I just haven’t been using it.

It was just another step, ya know? And I felt like I could forgo it because it was incompatible with my quest for extreme makeup minimalism (as defined by a person who carries at least five nude lipsticks in her purse at all times).

Basically, it wasn’t like I needed my eye makeup to impress anyone for hella hours anyway. It’s not like Tabs and Connor point out when my crease color is fading into oblivion (thankfully), but with the Coywolf in preschool now, I want to start doing different things with my makeup again.

Mostly, I wanna wear brown smoky eyes and red lips again. 🙂 But I refuse to subject you to patchy lids, so I’d like an eye primer, but I want one that has all the bells and whistles.

Like this one from Chanel.

$32 Chanel La Base Ombre À Paupière Longwear Eyeshadow Primer

This untinted eyeshadow primer swept me off my ~~feet~~ cat Vans!

Granted, it’s not like applying eye primer is difficult, but it’s definitely easier than usual with this one because of its smooth consistency.

La Base is “wetter” than primers from NARS and Urban Decay, but it lasts just as long. Using it is like applying an eye cream, and I think it’s just easier and faster for me to use than other primers from the big dawgs.

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